The owner of about 50 acres of vacant land off Reservoir and Second streets in Bristol is asking the city to rezone the property to a more flexible district that would allow a mix of residential and light commercial uses.
The rezoning request will be considered Monday by the city’s planning commission.
Currently, the property, which is near Eastridge Apartments on Portsmouth Avenue, is zoned for moderate family residential use. It was rezoned from single and two-family residential in 2001.
The property is owned by Don Shim of Shim Properties LLC of Centreville, Virginia. No proposed use for the property was given on the application or in other documents included with the meeting agenda.
The purpose of the flexible redevelopment district is to encourage the creative redevelopment of certain previously developed properties by allowing a mix of compatible land uses in conformity with the city’s comprehensive plan and with an approved site plan. This may involve reusing existing structures or redeveloping former commercial or industrial sites, or a combination of both, according to information provided with the agenda.
“The intent is to rejuvenate economic activity to relatively large tracts that have been vacant, thereby providing jobs and increased tax base,” it states.
If approved, the rezoning would allow a number of uses, including as an art studio or gallery, a business trade school, a data or call center, a food and beverage production facility, a health or fitness center, for light manufacturing, an indoor entertainment center, a microbrewery, a restaurant, a hotel and a retail store.
Following the commission’s consideration of the rezoning on Monday, a joint public hearing with city council will be scheduled. It will then go back to the planning commission, which will make a recommendation to city council, and then return to council for consideration on two readings.
The public hearing requires that adjoining property owners be notified. Currently, there is a mix of single and multi-family residential uses in the area, according to the documents.
The meeting will be held at noon Monday in the city council chambers at City Hall, 300 Lee St.
